PENNSYLVANIA -- Pennsylvania state police are investigating a disturbing case of animal cruelty after a family's horse is intentionally set on fire.
"We went to get him, this is how we found him, all burned," says Jessie Woodworth.
Woodworth was frantic when she discovered her horse, named Northstar, had been intentionally set on fire.
State police say someone poured an accelerant on the horse and lighted it, causing severe burns and singeing most of his body.
An act that's unfathomable to the family.
"He's 6-years-old, going on 7-years-old, he's my baby. Just a pleasure horse, we're not show horses or anything like that, he's just a companion. He means the world to me," says Woodworth.
"It makes me sick to my stomach. I was sick. My kids came down and started crying, they couldn't believe that somebody would hurt their grandma's horse like this," says Woodworth's daughter, Loretta Carr.
"It has to be a sick person for sure, a real sick person. Who would take something out on a defenseless animal?" asks Woodworth.
While she ponders those questions, the family is hoping Northstar can make a full recovery.
"It's going to be week by week. Hopefully, no infection sets in and as along as no infection sets in he should be okay. All of his hair might not ever grow back but that wont matter," Woodworth says.
"I hope he survives it. He's still beautiful, but I hope he looks the way he looked again. He's a sweetheart of a horse," Carr adds.
(Information courtesy NBC News)
